September 20, 2016 | Salesman standard working for Trump?

Danielle Park

Portfolio Manager and President of Venable Park Investment Counsel (www.venablepark.com) Ms Park is a financial analyst, attorney, finance author and regular guest on North American media. She is also the author of the best-selling myth-busting book "Juggling Dynamite: An insider's wisdom on money management, markets and wealth that lasts," and a popular daily financial blog: www.jugglingdynamite.com

Dishonesty and hiding information are major themes of this year’s US presidential contest, with both leading candidates apparently adept at deception. Still in this contest of liars, it seems Clinton–the career politician is scrutinized more than Trump–the career salesman. According to a recent fact-checking study by Politifact, just 4% of what Trump said on the campaign trail was true, compared with 23% for Clinton, while 35% of Trump’s statements were rated “false” compared with 11% for Clinton. The salespuff standard may be working in Trump’s favor with voters. See Why Trump gets away with huge lies while Clinton gets trashed for little fibs:

…Hillary Clinton’s one and only image in the public mind is that of a politician. She was seen as a more politically minded First Lady. And she was seen as a more politically ambitious U.S. Senator and Secretary of State. We don’t look at her in any other context. Not only are politicians held to a higher truth-telling standard than salespeople, we don’t even focus on their “product” or policies all that much to balance what they say. For the most part, politicians are what they say and salespeople are what they sell. It’s the best way to understand why Trump gets away with some much of what he says. Ultimately, that’s not his product.

Sure, most of us don’t like boastful salespeople, but it doesn’t mean we won’t buy what they’re selling. Compared to the tough scrutiny his fellow Republican candidates and Clinton endure, the salesman standard is better. It’s infinitely better. We don’t fact check the commercials or the guys yelling in those commercials. Trump knows that. So, he’s playing the role of that guy in the commercial.